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I thought watching House of Cards was going to be simple enough—open the Netflix app on my PS3, press play, and relax. That was about five months ago, when the show premiered to critical acclaim and attracted a large audience. I watched the first episode, and then I stopped. The reason? I was not happy with how the show looked on Netflix, even when playing at 1080p—compression artifacts were visible far too frequently.

Because Netflix produced the show, it had total control over the release and distribution of House of Cards. The company surprised the entertainment industry by releasing all the episodes at once in recognition of the "binge viewing" trend that it helped make possible to begin with.

Last week, I spotted the first-season Blu-ray package while shopping at Best Buy. The multi-disc set included a free "cloud copy" of the series, courtesy of Ultraviolet. I bought it on the spot—Blu-ray has consistently delivered top-quality sights and sounds to my living room, plus Ultraviolet works with Vudu. In past comparisons, I've been impressed with the quality of Vudu HDX, and I was hopeful that it could beat Netflix in terms of streaming quality.

What I did not know was that a misadventure coordinated by Mr. Murphy himself lay ahead of me. You see, I recently sold my PlayStation 3. My intention was to rely on CyberLink PowerDVD 13 until the new PlayStation 4 console became available. Well, it turns out the menu structure used by this multi-disc set had other plans for me. Simply put, CyberLink could not access individual episodes through the menu. I found myself locked out of the disc, with nowhere to go.

I realized that I could not rely on PC-based software—the aforementioned Cyberlink PowerDVD 13—for Blu-ray playback for another four or five months, so I took another trip down to Best Buy and grabbed a new Blu-ray player—the Sony BDP-S5100. I am actually happy with the switch from the PS3, but that is not the topic of this article. For my review of the BDP-S5100, click here. The player was just a means to an end, although it does provide me with a platform for Vudu and Amazon playback as well as Blu-ray.

In past comparisons, iTunes has been a part of mix. Not so with House of Cards—Netflix produced the show, so it gets to choose who distributes the show, and Apple is not on that list. Thankfully, there are other online-delivery options for viewing HoC.

I've enjoyed watching content on Vudu HDX, and Amazon also offers episodes in high definition through its Prime video service. Naturally, Netflix offers the show to anyone who has a monthly membership, and the low cost of that membership was probably a driving force behind the recent increase in Netflix streaming subscriptions. After all, the cheapest way to watch the entire series is to join Netflix for one month.

House of Cards is a 4K production—in fact, it might become the first series to be released in 4K—and it has a look that can be described as "perfectly pristine." When watching the show, any anomalies in the encoding process become glaringly obvious due to the fidelity of the actual video, which is essentially free of noise or artifacts, from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights. This video fidelity, and the way it highlighted flaws, was the reason I found the Netflix version difficult to watch; picture quality was one of the main reasons I got excited about the Blu-ray release.

My wife Danya is a good sport about my audio and home-theater obsessions, and she will even tolerate a bit of on-the-spot troubleshooting on a movie night. Unfortunately, I was in for a much rougher time in this case. The menu issue on the home-theater PC was insurmountable, and I was reluctant to watch the show on Netflix. Having had good experiences with Vudu in the past, I decided to give that a look.

The problem with both Vudu and Netflix on a home-theater PC is that audio is limited to two channels. I also found that playback of Vudu on the PC was not smooth—the 24P cadence was broken, it stuttered a little bit, resulting in noticeable judder during horizontal pans. It was time to try out the new Blu-ray player—and what a relief that was.

Blu-ray is a mature technology, but at this point, online delivery of HD content has also matured into a popular service. I expected the new Sony to play discs and stream content; I did not expect a tangible improvement in the quality of Netflix HD streaming. but that's what I got. The S5100 outperformed the PS3 it replaced as well as the built-in app on my Vizio HDTV—thanks to its superior streaming-video quality, the new machine changed the results of this comparison. I now know that Netflix is a viable alternative to Blu-ray, when viewed from the right device.

So what exactly happened when I compared House of Cards with the benefit of a new machine to stream? Here's what I saw and heard, from worst to best.

Netflix HD

When played on a PC, Netflix is terrible. The video looks terrible—the quality is visibly worse—and the sound is 2-channel only. All of my comments here are about watching Netflix through an app on an A/V streaming device, in this case a connected Blu-ray player.

Despite looking better than it did on a PlayStation 3, the Netflix presentation was the worst of the four options I compared. The picture quality was perfectly acceptable, as long as the viewing distance was not pushed toward the THX optimum distance. The Netflix version of House of Cards would not hold up in a high-end home theater. The primary issue was artifacts in shadows—Netflix had significant issues rendering the deepest shadows, producing plenty of blocking artifacts.

What caused me to rank Netflix last was the amount of time it took for the stream to display full-quality 1080p content. The video looks the same as Vudu HDX, but the interface is clunkier, and it would often take between 10 seconds and a minute before the sharpest image became visible.

Sound quality was quite good when streaming through the Sony player, and it registered as Dolby Digital 5.1 on my receiver. House of Cards does not exactly push the limits of sound effects and mixing, so there's not much to say here. Video quality is the reason Netflix came in last.

Image Quality: 6/10
Sound Quality: 7/10

Vudu HDX

I've had good luck with Vudu in the past, especially when viewing relatively pristine, digitally captured content. Vudu HDX does a decent job with House of Cards, especially with bright scenes. Unfortunately, it is not as good a transfer as I have seen for some Hollywood films. Motion was not as smooth as true 24p Blu-ray, and dark scenes exhibited considerable macro blocking in shadow regions. There was little to differentiate Vudu HDX from Netflix—both formats were visibly flawed. As with Netflix, the artifacts in the HDX version are not all that important when it comes to casual viewing, but it is not acceptable quality for home theater-style presentations.

Sound quality was good, which is typical for Vudu HDX, which uses Dolby Digital Plus encoding. The main things to listen for are clarity of voices and off-screen placement of sounds. There were no issues with the audio here.

Vudu's video quality is the same on a PC as it is on a dedicated player, but on a PC, Vudu HDX is only capable of 2-channel sound. Stick with the Vudu streaming app on a compatible device if possible.

Image Quality: 7/10
Sound Quality: 7/10

Amazon HD

The tables are turned! This is the first time I have seen Amazon HD video decisively beat Vudu HDX. Amazon's video was noticeably cleaner looking in the shadow regions. Motion was also smoother than Vudu HDX and Netflix—overall, quite an impressive performance—even if the video stream is only 720p.

Amazon's online offering was not truly Blu-ray quality, but it was a step up from Netflix and Vudu HDX, making it my preferred format for online delivery of House of Cards in a home-theater setting.

Once again, I found the sound quality was great with no issues.

As with the other online-delivery formats, Amazon on the PC was a disappointment. Streaming maxed out at 6Mbps, and audio was only available in stereo—in fact, Amazon HD video took the biggest hit in terms of quality when viewed on a PC.

Image Quality: 8/10
Sound Quality: 7/10

Blu-ray

The quality of Blu-ray really shines with this show. The 4K cameras captured pristine, grain-free imagery. Blu-ray shows this quite clearly, and even excessive scrutiny (i.e., pixel peeping) failed to reveal any significant flaws in the video. Motion rendered perfectly; I never witnessed any judder, banding, macro blocking, or any other noticeable compression artifacts. House of Cards looks tremendous, and Blu-ray brings that quality into the home theater.

Of course, Blu-ray also has superior sound. That's well known, and it is apparent in the music more so than in the dialog. My sound system is extremely capable on the low end, and the soundtrack had more heft when played off Blu-ray versus the highly compressed online-delivery formats.

I'll be picking up the Blu-ray for sure. And I agree that Netflix's streamed version looked and sounded like ass. Surprising for one of their tent pole original shows. You'd think they'd give it all the TLC possible.

I'm a little confused. Why did you watch Netflix on the pc when your review of the Sony said that Netflix looked great on it? To be honest, I would have used a streaming box for all three services instead of the pc. The pc version for all three of those services is the worst. Also you should try to watch Amazon purchases/rentals downloaded on a Tivo, that makes a big difference in my opinion. Do you know anyone with a Tivo you could borrow?

My son and I watched House Of Cards on Netflix when it came out and it looked terrible. We figured the servers were getting hammered. A few weeks later it was a lot better looking.

I'm a little confused. Why did you watch Netflix on the pc when your review of the Sony said that Netflix looked great on it? To be honest, I would have used a streaming box for all three services instead of the pc. The pc version for all three of those services is the worst. Also you should try to watch Amazon purchases/rentals downloaded on a Tivo, that makes a big difference in my opinion. Do you know anyone with a Tivo you could borrow?

My son and I watched House Of Cards on Netflix when it came out and it looked terrible. We figured the servers were getting hammered. A few weeks later it was a lot better looking.

I did not watch the full show on a PC. From the article: "All of my comments here are about watching Netflix through an app on an A/V streaming device." My review is of the streaming quality, as it functioned on the Blu-ray player—I've updated the article to make that clear. It was far superior to the PC experience, but it was still the worst of the four options.

I did not watch the full show on a PC. From the article: "All of my comments here are about watching Netflix through an app on an A/V streaming device." My review is of the streaming quality, as it functioned on the Blu-ray player—I've updated the article to make that clear. It was far superior to the PC experience, but it was still the worst of the four options.

Okay, I don't know much about streaming, apart from seeing what I considered to be some poor, bitrate-starved examples a few times. (Netflix & Vudu).

Anyway, Blu-Ray can be displayed at the original framerate, depending on the TV and player settings. How about the others you mentioned? If you noticed judder, I have to suspect that the video was telecined to 30 fps.

I was also surprised at the artifacts on Netflix when we watched it on a Roku 2 when it originally appeared - particularly the artifacts in dim scene. It does seem surprising for their showcase original content - particularly as other material on Netflix looks much better.

15 Mbps per second on Amazon - wow! When I last checked Amazon streaming was under 3 Mbps. Having recently moved from a Roku 2 to an AppleTV on our main TV I don't have a good Amazon option anymore (I can use the Amazon player in my TV - but in this mode the TV doesn't support all the custom picture setting meaning I have to use Cinema mode rather than a calibrated mode and audio is 2.0 even using ARC back through my receiver). I may have to revisit this if Amazon is improving their streaming quality. Best would be an Amazon player (or Amazon airplay mirroring) on the ATV.

Though it's quite possible that Amazon's video encode beats the visible quality of VUDU's 9 Mbps HDX, I feel certain that Amazon is streaming at an average in the 3 Mbps range and is in 720p (the only platform you'll get 1080p Amazon on is a download to TiVo Premiere). The bit rate displayed in the Sony BDP player is its current measurement of bandwidth available on the connection, not an instantaneous measure of bandwidth consumed. In any case all of the streaming algorithms buffer content and play it from that buffer; instantaneous bandwidth consumption by the player is no indication of the average bit rate of the encode and will often hit 30 Mbps when filling the empty buffer at stream startup (30 Mbps was the maximum nominal burst bit rate of my network service last time I measured; it's possible that the peaks would be even higher on higher bandwidth service). A more accurate way to determine the average bit rate of a stream is to measure the total bandwidth consumption over several minutes and average that. (If you can measure the buffer size of the player in seconds, by waiting a while, pulling the network cable and timing how long it continues to play, add that to the total time when averaging).

Mark, does your ISP give you access to Netflix's Super HD encodes? (If uncertain, go to http://signup.netflix.com/superhd; if you can get the "Super HD" encodes, you'll see "Your Internet Provider is ready for Super HD!" in large green letters beneath the picture of a TV). It should be noted that Super HD access gets you a 1080p video encode at 5800 Kbps, 50% higher than the 3850 Kbps 1080p "normal HD" video encode. The vast majority of customers don't have access to Super HD at this point, so comparing the best that can be had without it is valid.

Being curious, I splurged and spent $2 buying the first episode from Amazon and downloaded it to my PC. The file is 2.47 GB, 6 Mbps VC-1 with 384 Kbps 6 channel WMA Pro sound. I also downloaded it to my TiVo but that download isn't kicking off for some reason (I upgraded my TiVo a while back and it's possible that I needed to do something to update Amazon). The TiVo download should be 1080p24 and a higher average bit rate, but almost certainly not 15 Mbps (if I can get the file down to see its size, I'll calculate and report it ).

Though it's quite possible that Amazon's video encode beats the visible quality of VUDU's 9 Mbps HDX, I feel certain that Amazon is streaming at an average in the 3 Mbps range and is in 720p (the only platform you'll get 1080p Amazon on is a download to TiVo Premiere). The bit rate displayed in the Sony BDP player is its current measurement of bandwidth available on the connection, not an instantaneous measure of bandwidth consumed. In any case all of the streaming algorithms buffer content and play it from that buffer; instantaneous bandwidth consumption by the player is no indication of the average bit rate of the encode and will often hit 30 Mbps when filling the empty buffer at stream startup (30 Mbps was the maximum nominal burst bit rate of my network service last time I measured; it's possible that the peaks would be even higher on higher bandwidth service). A more accurate way to determine the average bit rate of a stream is to measure the total bandwidth consumption over several minutes and average that. (If you can measure the buffer size of the player in seconds, by waiting a while, pulling the network cable and timing how long it continues to play, add that to the total time when averaging).

Mark, does your ISP give you access to Netflix's Super HD encodes? (If uncertain, go to http://signup.netflix.com/superhd; if you can get the "Super HD" encodes, you'll see "Your Internet Provider is ready for Super HD!" in large green letters beneath the picture of a TV). It should be noted that Super HD access gets you a 1080p video encode at 5800 Kbps, 30% higher than the 3850 Kbps 1080p "normal HD" video encode. The vast majority of customers don't have access to Super HD at this point, so comparing the best that can be had without it is valid.

Being curious, I splurged and spent $2 buying the first episode from Amazon and downloaded it to my PC. The file is 2.47 GB, 6 Mbps VC-1 with 384 Kbps 6 channel WMA Pro sound. I also downloaded it to my TiVo but that download isn't kicking off for some reason (I upgraded my TiVo a while back and it's possible that I needed to do something to update Amazon). The TiVo download should be 1080p24 and a higher average bit rate, but almost certainly not 15 Mbps (if I can get the file down to see its size, I'll calculate and report it ).

Indeed, you are correct about Amazon's behavior, and I suspect your stats are accurate as well. So be it, 720p on Amazon suits House of Cards, because it does not introduce artifacts. I am a Comcast subscriber, so I do not have access to SuperHD—it would be nice. I am baffled why Amazon on my PC would report such relatively low bandwidth, since it is wired and the Blu-ray player is operating over Wi-Fi.

Indeed, you are correct about Amazon's behavior, and I suspect your stats are accurate as well. So be it, 720p on Amazon suits House of Cards, because it does not introduce artifacts. I am a Comcast subscriber, so I do not have access to SuperHD—it would be nice. I am baffled why Amazon on my PC would report such relatively low bandwidth, since it is wired and the Blu-ray player is operating over Wi-Fi.

Amazon streaming on PC is only through their web player and you're right--the PQ is hideous. I'm not sure why. I also don't know why they don't release a 5.1 sound capable Win8 app like Netflix and Hulu. On your PC you could always download the 6 Mbps file.

I've been pretty impressed with the quality of Amazon streams given that they run 3-3.5 Mbps with basic DD 5.1 sound. (720p Netflix is 3000 Kbps plus 384 Kbps for DD+). At the end of last summer I watched the first four seasons of Fringe as HD Amazon Prime Instant and both PQ and AQ were consistently good.

When played on a PC, Netflix is terrible. The video looks terrible—the quality is visibly worse—and the sound is 2-channel only.

You can get 5.1 audio (and 1080p) via the Windows 8 Netflix App. I watched it recently and it looked fine to me... virtually identical to what an OTA series looks like here. Now I didn't compare it to Blu-ray but I didn't find it wanting... I was only using a 61 inch image and I'm guessing in my dedicated room it wouldn't hold up as well.

Great thanks. I've only watched Netflix a few times and I'm not sure if I get the DD 5.1 I'll have to pay attention next time I watch something on there.

Unless the device that you're watching on is 4 or 5 years old you should get 5.1 sound (if it's too old to support 5.1 sound you won't get 1080 res video either). It's the higher bit rate 1080p video encodes which Netflix calls "Super HD" you may or may not get, depending upon your Internet service provider.

As a hearing impaired persom, amazon is out for me. Unbelivable that in this day and age, their streaming is NOT captioned!

Not entirely true. Not every device supports captions and they're not available on every title, but I can see captions on at least some of the Amazon playing devices that I own. I'm not hearing impaired but I generally turn captions on when they're properly displayed and unobtrusive, which is true of captions from streaming video players.

Sadly, it seems to be about 12%, 9276 of 76266; they include House of Cards. You can see the full list of them here.

There's a table of features of Amazon players in a small number of devices here with a column for CC support.

Unless the device that you're watching on is 4 or 5 years old you should get 5.1 sound (if it's too old to support 5.1 sound you won't get 1080 res video either). It's the higher bit rate 1080p video encodes which Netflix calls "Super HD" you may or may not get, depending upon your Internet service provider.

1. At least in my case (60" plasma viewed from about 9'), Netflix looks pretty damned good. I stream it on Apple TV 3 (on my HTPC running PLEX it is not nearly as good).

Is it as good as BR? Not really, but the differences are definitely not readily apparent unless someone is pixel peeping. Which means that in the vast majority of cases, BR is simply not worth the hassle.

2. There are variables in streaming which may or may not affect your viewing experience. It could be that my Apple TV 3 simply decodes Netflix better than your BR player. It could be that there are differences in streaming quality in different areas, or even at different times of the day.

But the bottom line is, Netflix streams perfectly fine for most users.

Frankly, the difference between a Netflix stream and BR is far, far more negligible to me than the color and light inconsistencies I see on most LCDs (compared to a decent plasma), or even on many less than perfect, or less than perfectly set up, projectors.

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BTW, Apple TV just got Sky News (including live streaming), plus ESPN and HBO Go (which is likely to be unbundled in the next few months and be available without cable/satellite subscription), so it should make it a little bit easier for those looking to cut the cord to take the next step.

1. At least in my case (60" plasma viewed from about 9'), Netflix looks pretty damned good. I stream it on Apple TV 3 (on my HTPC running PLEX it is not nearly as good).

Is it as good as BR? Not really, but the differences are definitely not readily apparent unless someone is pixel peeping. Which means that in the vast majority of cases, BR is simply not worth the hassle.

2. There are variables in streaming which may or may not affect your viewing experience. It could be that my Apple TV 3 simply decodes Netflix better than your BR player. It could be that there are differences in streaming quality in different areas, or even at different times of the day.

But the bottom line is, Netflix streams perfectly fine for most users.

Frankly, the difference between a Netflix stream and BR is far, far more negligible to me than the color and light inconsistencies I see on most LCDs (compared to a decent plasma), or even on many less than perfect, or less than perfectly set up, projectors.

---

BTW, Apple TV just got Sky News (including live streaming), plus ESPN and HBO Go (which is likely to be unbundled in the next few months and be available without cable/satellite subscription), so it should make it a little bit easier for those looking to cut the cord to take the next step.

I did not see superior decoding coming from an Apple TV 3; which I bought and returned a few months ago, and there's nothing about that box that would indicate it has any such capability. I touched on the acceptability factor as well. It's a relative thing... Blu-ray looks quite a bit better, that doesn't mean the streaming version look bad, per se.

I did not see superior decoding coming from an Apple TV 3; which I bought and returned a few months ago, and there's nothing about that box that would indicate it has any such capability. I touched on the acceptability factor as well. It's a relative thing... Blu-ray looks quite a bit better, that doesn't mean the streaming version look bad, per se.

You might be right, I was just noting that there are variables. I have not been overly impressed with BR Players streaming in the past, nor with their UI in general, but things change.

Speaking of change, also keep in mind that Apple TV has had a couple of firmware updates in the last few months, plus Netflix has been tweaking their codec as well.

For what it's worth, ATV 3's upgrade with live stream from SKY International made my day, because it is a good all news channel, much better than the local CNN, FOX or MSNBC (or BBC for that matter). And so far it has no commercials.... I still get my news from the wires on the web, but it is nice to have a decent live stream as well.

I watched HoC on my PS3 and was actually VERY impressed with the PQ. The only issues were the banding in dark scenes (and evident in the intro where they show the lion and horse statues). Other than that, the image quality was pretty damn good for me. BR would certainly be better, but on a 60" kuro, ps3, and TWC ... this show looked and sounded great.

Obviously not BR, since irfan notes that "BR would certainly be better, but on a 60" kuro, ps3, and TWC ... this show looked and sounded great."

It's Netflix and it jives exactly with my experience (funny enough, also on a 60" Kuro)

Bottom line, if you are not pixel-peeping, Netflix looks more than adequate in HD, at least on a 60" screen viewed from a "normal" distance.

As I said, the Netflix artifacts evident in comparison to a BR would generally be much less noticeable than the color/light issues exhibited by most LCD TVs, or even great projectors viewed in less than ideal conditions. Which means that the average consumer, even many lurking here, have significantly greater PQ issues to worry about.